Five Local Films to Premiere at Trinidad Festival

Five local films will premiere at the upcoming Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival (TTFF), slated for September 20 to 27 in Port-of-Spain. The projects are ‘Original’ by Kurt Wright and Noelle Kerr; ‘Shock Value’, Adrian Lopez; ‘Shoot the Girl’, Tony Hendricks and Natalie Thompson; ‘Sugar’, Laurie Parker, Sharon Leach and Michelle Serieux; and ‘The Silent Ones’, Gregory Lopez and Janet Morrison.

The opportunity came from the Propella Initiative, a thrust by Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) and Jamaica Film and Television Association (JAFTA), to support the talent of Jamaican filmmakers and garner international exposure for the culture through film.

Speaking with JIS News, Film Commissioner at JAMPRO, Renée Robinson, explained that the five new Jamaican short films were selected through a blind process and were produced over the summer period with financial support from the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund.

The filmmakers underwent boot camps on scriptwriting, directing, pitching, festival strategy and dealmaking. “We did not know who we were selecting… it was based on the merit of the project and after that process was completed, we had a series of interviews to ensure that the finalists were at the production stage where they could deliver the project, and that is how we came up with the top five,” the Film Commissioner explained.

She pointed out that all of the Propella films were shot in Jamaica with a 100 per cent Jamaican crew, 100 per cent Jamaican talent, and 100 per cent Jamaican production service companies. Ms. Robinson said that JAMPRO has partnered with JAFTA to discover and cultivate an annual cohort of Jamaica’s top film talent and will work at having a stronger presence at international film festivals. She added that involvement at these festivals will help “propel the Jamaican film industry into the global landscape”.

Source: Jamaica Information Service

Published Date: September 13th, 2016